St. Modwen instructs Christie Group to sell the Trentham Estate

Christie Group announced on Friday that its specialist leisure and retail property advisory subsidiary Christie & Co has been instructed to sell the Trentham Estate - a visitor attraction and leisure-based outlet retail and garden centre property - on behalf of St. Modwen Properties.

The AIM-traded firm said the decision to bring the “hybrid investment opportunity” to market after more than 25 years of ownership and significant investment followed a strategic review of St. Modwen's core business.

It said Trentham attracts around 3.25 million people each year, including over 760,000 paid-for visitors, placing it in the top five paid-for garden attractions in the UK.

Trentham's business was underpinned by a “significant” property investment business, which includes 85 third-party leasehold occupiers primarily located in the Outlook Shopping Village, as well as restaurants and a Blue Diamond garden centre.

The property also includes a Monkey Forest attraction, a Treetop Adventure high ropes course, and a water sports centre which incorporates the Trentham Canoe Club and the Trentham Boat Club.

“Trentham is a unique asset in that it combines a mix of very stable investment income, as well as revenue from the gardens and events, whilst delivering numerous opportunities for further development,” said Christie & Co’s head of leisure and development, Jon Patrick.

“Having one of the busiest garden centres in the country, a vacancy rate of only 2% in the Outlet Shopping Village and an easily accessible location with 7.5 million people living within an hours' drive-time, mark Trentham out as one of the most exciting assignments we've worked on in recent years.

“We anticipate that the British public's increasing interest in all things ‘outdoors’. as well as investor focus on long income opportunities with further potential for development and exposure to operational real estate, will see interest in Trentham coming from a diverse buyer group.”

At 1155 BST, shares in Christie Group were down 1.63% at 120.5p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.